Bum Note
by Just4FunFiction
Summary: It's late at night, but a certain white haired child isn't able to get to sleep. Can his older sister get to the bottom of it? (It would help if you read the A/N at the start)


**(A/N: so, let me explain, since it's the first time I've done this in this fandom. Sometimes, as a way of coping with issues, I write stories that are similar to my situation. In this case, there have been a few nights where… well, you'll probably figure it out. This isn't my best work, but for once, that isn't the point. In doing this, it helps me to cope, which is why I love writing. **

**Also, the song is Lullaby by Sleeping At Last. Thank you for reading. Enjoy)**

Nightfall had overcome the town of Royal Woods, the dark and starry skies only lit up by the stars and the moon above, and the streetlights on the ground below them. The residents of the town were now in their beds, seeking to gather rest for the day yet to come. In one particular house, known only as the Loud House because of its residents, the same was true, and it was the only time of day where things were quiet, as the lull of sleep had overtaken the two adults, their multiple children and their pets.

The only one not asleep was the sole son of the family, one Lincoln Loud. Having gotten dressed for bed as he did every night, he had gone through his usual preparations for sleep- brushing his teeth, putting on his pyjamas, making sure he had Bun Bun in his arms- and got under the covers. But tonight, sleep did not take over him. His mind would not allow him. He did not feel tired, yet he did not feel energetic- instead, he felt quite lethargic, his eye lids both heavy and light at the same time. He had been laid in that position for half an hour already, but his body refused to let sleep wash over him.

Eventually, he decided that just lying there was not working the way he hoped it would, so the white haired boy got out of bed, leaving his rabbit toy on the pillow, slipped his feet into his slippers and began to leave his bedroom. While he would usually fear his siblings waking if he made too much noise, and would try and tiptoe his way to the bathroom or wherever he planned on going, he didn't have the energy to actively do that in his current state, so he merely walked across the landing towards the staircase and went down to the kitchen, where he poured himself a glass of water, before sitting down at the table. After taking an initial sip, he just sat there for a moment, staring at the water in the glass blankly. He didn't feel sad or depressed or anything like that, he just… in a way, he felt nothing.

For a moment, he didn't even register the sounds of someone else coming down the stairs until they appeared in the dining room, poking their head into the kitchen area, which was when Lincoln acknowledged that it was his older sister Luna. the rocker stood in her purple night top and slippers, bearing a slightly concerned expression on her face.

"Linc?" She asked. "What are you doing up?"

"Hey, Luna," he replied, his voice pretty flat.

"Dude, it's late. You should be catching Z's, not sat down here." She walked over and sat down beside him. "Come on, what's bothering you?"

"Nothing."

She gave him a look that instantly told him she didn't believe him. "Nothing? Really?" He nodded in response. "Then why are you down here staring at a glass of water?" He simply shrugged. "Come on, bro, you can tell me."

"Luna, there's nothing bothering me. Truth be told, I'm really not feeling anything right now."

Luna blinked, trying to understand what her brother was thinking. "What do you mean, you aren't really feeling anything?"

"I mean, I'm not feeling anything. I'm not tired, but I'm not awake. I'm not sad or happy, not worried or excited. I just feel… here, you know?"

"Oh… oh, I think I get you now. It's like you're too tired to fall asleep, right?"

He simply shrugged and said, "I guess."

Now knowing how to help, she smiled and stood up, then told her brother, "I've been there. Well, I think I can help you out." She walked over to the fridge and opened the door. "I'm gonna make us both some warm milk, and once we've had that, I'll walk you up to bed if you like."

"Okay."

She nodded, then pulled some milk out of the fridge and shut the door. Putting the milk on the counter, she pulled a pan out of the cabinet and poured some milk into it, then put it on the hob and turned on the heat. "Give that a minute to heat up. So, Linc, how long you been feeling like this?"

"What do you mean?"

She turned around to face her brother, and he could see the concern in her eyes again. "Well, if you've been feeling like this for only, like, an hour, then it's probably nothing, you know? But, if you've been feeling like that for a while…" She turned around, both to make sure the milk didn't scorch and to stop her brother from seeing that she looked pained. "Well, then that's something you'd need to tell me or somebody about, bro." She opened a draw and pulled out a wooden spoon, which she used to stir the milk a bit. "I don't think that's the case, but… sometimes, you can't tell, you know? Sometimes, you need to full on ask to realise, and sometimes you need to _be_ asked to realise yourself."

"Oh. Well, I've only felt like this for about an hour. You don't need to worry."

She gave a small chuckle. "Linc, I'm your big sis- I'm always gonna worry about you. You might hear Lori say something like, 'it's literally my job to worry', but I don't think of it as a job, more… a choice, I guess. I choose to because I love you." After heating the milk for another thirty seconds and stirring it every so often, she turned down the heat as the milk started to boil, then left it for another ten seconds before turning the heat off altogether. She then found two more cups and poured the milk into them, then returned the original bottle of milk to the fridge, before sitting down by her brother with the two cups of warm milk. "Here you go, bro."

"Thanks." As he held the cup in his hands, he simply stared at it for a moment, feeling the heat radiate against his palms, before saying, "do you ever feel like this? Like you just… feel nothing?"

"Me?" Luna replied, holding the cup up to blow on it. "Sometimes." She took her first sip, a smile gracing her lips as the warmth of the freshly heated milk filled her throat. "Not a lot, but on occasion. It's usually random. Sometimes, I'll be listening to a sad song, or watching a sad movie, and I'll just hit a bum note." As her brother took a drink of his milk, she looked at him and asked, "what about you? Is there anything you think brought this on?"

"I don't know."

She took another drink, then set her cup down. "Well, is there anything that's been bothering you?" He mulled it over in his mind, tapping against his cup of milk, but found himself drawing a blank and ended up shaking his head. "It's okay, bro. Just looking out for you. You know that, right?"

"I know, Luna. I appreciate it."

She smiled, shuffling her chair so she could wrap her arm around his shoulder and pull him closer. "What's a big sis for?" As he took another drink of her milk, she gave a small chuckle. "God, it feels like forever since we've done this."

He raised an eyebrow, looking at the wistful smile on his sister's face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, us chatting as I tried to help you out when you couldn't sleep. When you were little, you'd always come to me when you couldn't sleep- never Lori or Leni. Only times you didn't come to me were when I were at a sleepover, so you'd settle for Luan."

"Well, don't tell her I said this, but that's because Lori used to scare me when I was little."

Luna gave a bigger laugh at this, though made sure not to laugh too much. "Yeah. Meanwhile, she scares me now whenever she's left in charge." Lincoln let out a small laugh, but instantly shut his mouth when Luna looked at him with a grin. "Was that a laugh I heard, bro?"

"N-no, just… milk went down the wrong way."

Looking closer, she could see that he was forcing his lips to stay down, making her grin grow larger. "I think it was, Linky. In fact it looks like you're smiling!"

"No I'm not," he retorted in a pouty voice.

"Oh? Then, I'm just gonna have to see what I can do about that."

Before he could react, she swiftly moved in and began to tickle the defenceless white haired boy, knowing his weak spots from having known him his entire life, and he knew he had no way of stopping her, try though he might. "STAH-AH-AHP IT!" He let out between laughs. "WE'LL WA-AKE EV-RY-ONE UU-UP!"

Though she found nothing cuter than hearing her brother laugh when she tickled him like that, she knew he was right, and that neither their siblings nor their parents would be happy if they were woken by the two of them, so she begrudgingly relented, allowing the boy a moment to calm himself down after her 'onslaught'. She did notice, however, that he was smiling now. "Seems like you're feeling a bit better now, bro."

"I guess so, yeah."

"You feeling sleepy yet?"

"A little bit."

"Well, finish your milk and I'll make sure you get to sleep alright."

He shook his head, saying, "you don't have to do that. Besides, you should get to sleep too, right?"

"You're right, you're right, but your sleep is more important right now. So, come on. Finish that so we can head upstairs." He nodded, then proceeded to drink the last half of his milk, wiping away the milk moustache it left after and letting out a small burp which causes him to blush as he covered his mouth. Luna, however, simply chuckled and said, "nice one, bro." She then took her glass and downed the rest of her milk and putting the glass down in time to let out an equally loud belch, making her chuckle more as she covered her mouth. "Now you've got me doing it!"

Though he said "my bad", he couldn't resist laughing whilst doing so, until a slightly louder yawn escaped him. "Guess it really is time to go to bed."

"I'll second that. Come on, bro." She took the two empty glasses, got up from her seat and walked over to the sink, placing them in to be washed later. After that, she let her little brother get up from his seat before wrapping her arm around his shoulder, then quietly walking with him back up the stairs, both making sure to be careful not to wake the others as they went into his bedroom. She shut the door, then waited for him to get back under the covers, holding Bun Bun under his arm, before sitting down next to him. "You gonna be okay getting to sleep now?"

"Uh… y-yeah, I… I think so."

Looking at her brother, however, she got the feeling that he was disappointed. "What's up?"

He turned his head away, thankful the darkness concealed his blushing. "I-It's nothing, you'll think it's stupid. Honestly, I feel a bit stupid for thinking it."

Unaccepting of that answer, she took hold of his free hand and patted it. "Bro, nothing you could say to me would sound stupid. Come on, what is it?"

He looked back at her for a moment, her eyes standing out in spite of the lack of light, then looked away again as he told her, "could you… could you maybe… sing for me?"

While he feared she would laugh or ridicule him and leave him embarrassed, she instead smiled, and gave a nod. "Anything for my biggest fan." She shuffled a little in her seated position so that she could lean towards him, her head near his as she began to sing in a quiet yet soothing voice. "_Goodnight, goodnight, it's time now to sleep. The moon's watching over you and your dreams. Goodnight, goodnight, my sweet little one. Tomorrow, your eyes, they will light up the sun._

_Goodnight, goodnight, sweet dreams for now. Drift off to sleep on your pillow of clouds. Goodnight, goodnight, my sweet little friend. Tomorrow's adventures, they will soon begin._

_Tomorrow's adventures, they will soon begin."_

The song now at its end, Luna used the faint glow of moonlight to see that her brother was now asleep, a small smile on his face. She felt proud in being able to help him when he needed it, and couldn't help but find it cute seeing him so peacefully at rest. In her mind, she could see him exactly as he was when he was younger, still just as innocent, still just as sweet and still just as cute. She sat there for a few seconds, watching him sleep, before she realised he still had hold of her hand. She would ordinarily have tried to let go and leave him be, but the combination of the warm milk and her brother's adorable self made her instead decide that she didn't want to go back to her room. Instead, she carefully climbed under the covers and pulled him close to her, gently stroking his hair away from his face so she could place a kiss on his forehead.

"Goodnight, baby bro," she whispered, before laying her head next to his and allowing sleep to engulf her.


End file.
